Page 86 of Barbi and the Villain

“Your hand…” I grab his hand, my eyes widening as I note the blue substance is spreading through his flesh and impeding his healing. “What’s wrong with it?”

“We can worry about that later,” he strains out a reply.

“Tell me to kill them.”

“W-what?”

“Tell me, Barbi. Now.”

“K-kill them. Please…”

He gives me a brisk nod.

Turning his attention to the incoming attacks, his expression changes.

His dark mist transforms into tendrils that reach out and take out the men from their hiding places. The mist surrounds each one of their bodies, and before I can blink, they turn into dust.

One after another, what little is left of the men drops to the ground, only to be swept away by the wind. Nykander barely moves a muscle as he watches his dark cloud consume the men.

In a matter of seconds, they’re gone. He dispatched them so easily, it makes me wonder why he waited until they shot their arrows at us.

“If you knew they were demons, why didn’t you kill them before?” I ask in a small voice as I take out a cloth, wetting it and dabbing it around his wound.

He closes his eyes and exhales through his nose.

“Do not, ever, tell me to stop again.”

I shrink back at his biting tone. But as I look at his hand, it’s no wonder he’s mad at me. He got that trying to protect me and for some reason, it’s not healing.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

He does not reply.

Glancing at his hand, he scrapes the remaining blue stuff away, and his flesh slowly starts to heal.

“What is this blue substance?”

“A toxic powder that can neutralize my healing abilities,” he answers blithely.

“But what is it? Where does it come from?”

He gives me a warning look, a sign he does not like my line of questioning.

“You ask too many questions, Barbi.”

“Am I not entitled to know this if it puts you—us—in danger? You’re always berating me, but you forget that I’m a stranger to your world. I know next to nothing about…well, everything. Why are you always blaming me? It’s not as if I’m doing things on purpose! I just saw some men in need and I wanted to help them. What’s so bad about that? And just because I followed you doesn’t mean I wanted to end up tied to you like this! You may dislike me, but you forget that I may dislike you back! You’ve certainly been a grumpy, rude, nasty man ever since we got roped into this situation.”

“Are you done?” he drawls lazily as he leans back to look at me.

“I am far from done! You are awful to me and I will not stand for it. So you either change your behavior or this will not work. And we might be trapped together until we figure out how to get out of this binding situation, but that doesn’t mean I have to be pleasant. You already dislike me. I will make you absolutely detest me, and I will not let you have one moment of peace if you continue like this,” I tell him firmly.

“So let me get this straight. Are you threatening me with more of your incessant talking?”

“Damn right I am.”

He stares at me. The corners of his mouth tremble before he bursts out into laughter.

“All right, Barbi. You win,” he mentions as he shakes his head.

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